Dr. José Carlos Almansa Ruiz

 

Jose Image

 DVM (Hons) MSc (Vet)
Resident, Veterinary Dentistry
Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

 

José hails from Spain where he qualified as a veterinarian from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2008. Thereafter he completed his honours degree in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery, at the same university, while working in a busy afterhours hospital in Madrid.

In 2009, he relocated to Pretoria where he undertook an internship in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery under Prof. Gerhard Steenkamp for 18 months. During this time, he also enrolled in an MSc degree looking at the bacterial profiles and antibiograms of the bacteria isolated of the exposed pulps of dog and cheetah canine teeth.  He completed his MSc in 2012 and published 2 papers from it.

During 2011, Jose relocated to the UK where he worked in the greater London area as a general practitioner and accepting referrals in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery from the Kent and Surrey areas. In 2012, he started his European Diploma in Veterinary Dentistry residency through the alternative pathway under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Milella, which he completed in December 2018. He is Board ready and hoping to sit his European Veterinary Dental College exam in 2020, to become only the second European veterinary dental specialist in South Africa.

As part of his training he completed the AOVET Course-Masters in Operative Treatment of Craniomaxillofacial Trauma and Reconstruction (2014). In 2015, he moved back to South Africa, this time to Cape Town, where he joined Tygerberg Animal Hospital as a veterinarian with a special interest in Dentistry and Maxillofacial surgery. To work in South Africa Jose had to sit and pass the South African Veterinary Council examinations, and he did so in 2016.  At the beginning of 2017 he moved back to Pretoria where he joined Prof. Gerhard Steenkamp from VetDentSA. They offer a veterinary dentistry and maxillofacial surgery consultancy for small animals across South Africa.  He also became a partner in Vetdent International, an UAE based company started by Prof. Steenkamp to service wildlife dentistry and maxillofacial surgery needs internationally.

José was appointed as an extraordinary lecturer in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery at the Ondersterpoort Veterinary Academic Hospital in January 2018.

José has a special interest in Wildlife Dentistry and Maxillofacial surgery where he is an active researcher. He has presented in national and international congresses, and published in international peer reviewed journals.
Jose is married to Keri-Lee, a South African veterinarian busy with her residency in Veterinary Ophthalmology